more or less metamorphosed. These rocks were placed by Safford in the Cambrian a reference at first questioned by the government geologists but afterwards accepted. In this area the Ocoee slates overlie the Knox dolomite the larger part of which is Ordovician. These relations indicate, therefore, the presence here of a great overthrust fault whereby the lower Ocoee rocks have been thrust over the Knox dolomite to the distance of eight or ten miles. Two periods of faulting are recognized in the region, the first of which is recorded in the above-mentioned overthrust of the Cambrian upon the Knox. Later came another stage of folding and faulting in which the faults of the first period were involved giving rise to complex structures not always easily decipherable. It was during this second period of movement that most of the great faults of the valley were produced.

The Oriskany sandstone faunule at Oriskany Falls, New York: HARRY N. EATON. The type locality of the Oriskany sandstone is at Oriskany Falls, in the southern part of Oneida county, New York, where a lower Devonian section is exposed. This occurrence has been known in the literature since 1839 when Vanuxem noted it in his state survey report. Structurally, the sandstone is a small lens, ten feet thick, whose southern edge only can be observed. The faunal list is interesting chiefly because it is larger than formerly supposed, and as showing relations to other faunules in New York and Ontario. This study was incidental to more detailed work on the Oriskany in another New York locality.

Salem limestone outliers in central Missouri: COURTNEY WERNER.

Geology of the Sullivan county, Indiana, oil field: STEPHEN S. VISHER. Approximately 30 miles south of Terre Haute, and only a few miles from the Illinois boundary, there are seven producing oil pools aggregating in area about 12 square miles. About 500 wells are being pumped. The daily production was recently about 1,000 barrels. No report on the geological conditions in this oil field has been published. A study carried on recently under the direction of State Geologist Logan, has revealed several interesting facts. Production is from four sands. The highest of these, at a depth of approximately 620 feet, seems clearly to be along the unconformity between the Allegheny and the Pottsville divisions of the Pennsylvania Formation. The three lower sands are in the Mansfield division of the Pottsville. The second sand is about 660 feet below the sur

face; the third about 740 and the fourth about 800 feet. The presence of more than one oil sand has not been recognized by most drillers. Many wells have been abandoned only a few feet above a sand in which wells not far away obtain profitable production. No proof of local folding or doming was obtained. The evidence at hand indicates that the oil pools are lenses of sand along the buried valley of an ancient aggrading river or rivers. The Indiana Geological Survey is publishing the full report.

The late Pleistocene submergence in the Columbia River valley: J. HARLEN BRETZ.

The latest glacial features in the United States: HERMAN L. FAIRCHILD. These features are depicted on maps of a forthcoming Bulletin of the New York State Museum, proofs of which are here exhibited. The locality is the north boundary of New York. Here, on the point of the northern salient of the Adirondack mass the waning Quebec (Labradorian) glacier made its last stand on American territory with the effect of impounding glacial waters. Probably the ice sheet abandoned northern Maine somewhat later. The extinction features of Lake Iroquois, the last and most interesting of the long series of glacial waters, lie here; these being the second outlet channel through Covey pass and the shoreline phenomena on the west. On the Champlain side of the highland are the remarkable denuded rock areas and channels produced by the latest glacial drainage held to high levels by the Champlain lobe of the wasting glacier. Beneath these glacial stream features on the east side of the salient, and the Iroquois shore on the west side, lies the shore of the sea-level waters, which had followed the receding ice front up the Hudson-Champlain valley. This "marine" shore, strongly marked by heavy cobble bars and deltas, curves around the north end of the salient (Covey Hill) and passes back into New York north of Chateaugay village. At Covey pass the Iroquois plane is to-day 1,030 feet altitude, and the marine beach is 740 feet. The difference, 290 feet, is the altitude of Lake Iroquois at the time of its downdraining into the Champlain Sea, which figure is the master key to the quantitative study of land deformation in the Ontario-St. Lawrence valley.

Springfield, Missouri and the frontier of 1820: LEWIS F. THOMAS. About 1820 white settlers began to move into the Osage county of Missouri and settle in the more favored localities. One of these was the site of Springfield, which on account of a favorable combination of natural advantages out

stripped all the other settlements. An abundant supply of sparkling water and a magnificent stand of walnut and oak timber determined the location of the cabins and stores. The near by grass lands were easily broken by the plow into fertile fields or left as open range lands for cattle. The greatest advantage was the location of the settlement, situated as it was on the broad undulating surface of the White-Osage River divide where an old northsouth Indian trail intersected an east-west White River trail. These trails passed through the stages of road and pike to railroad. Back and forth over them moved the settlers and freight which gave life to the city and made it the social, political, manufacturing and commercial center of southwestern Missouri. Thus Springfield has been from the beginning of settlement a densely settled population outlier in the sparcely settled Ozark region. The Chester series in Illinois: STUART WELLER. The original section of the Mississippian formation is that along the Mississippi River in Iowa and Illinois. The upper portion of this section constituting the "Chester Group" of Worthen is typically exposed in southern Illinois. This succession of strata is now considered to be of Series rank, and the upper Mississippian is now called the Chester Series, while the name Iowa Series is suggested for the lower Mississippian. In the course of detailed mapping in southern Illinois, in progress since 1911, the Chester Series has been subdivided into sixteen distinct formational units. In the more complete section, as exhibited in Pope and Johnson counties, these formations are alternately sandstone and calcareous members, the calcareous members being made up of considerable amounts of shale interbedded with limestone. The names used for these formations are as follows: Upper Chester-16, Kinkaid limestone; 15, Degonia sandstone; 14, Clore limestone; 13, Palestine sandstone; 12, Menard limestone; 11, Waltersburg sandstone; 10, Vienna limestone; 9, Tar Springs sandstone. Middle Chester-8, Glen Dean limestone; 7, Hardensburg sandstone; 6, Golconda limestone; 5, Cypress sandstone. Lower Chester4, Paint Creek limestone; 3, Yankeetown formation and Bethel sandstone; 2, Renault limestone; 1, Aux Vases sandstone. The limestone members of this series of formations, with the possible exception of the Vienna, exhibit a continuous distribution across the state from Hardin county at the southeast to Randolph and Monroe counties at the northwest, but most of the sandstones are not continuously present. The Aux Vases sandstone has

its greater development in the Mississippi River section and thins out to the southeast, being very certainly wanting in the section east of Union county. The Bethel, Cypress, Hardensburg and Tar Springs sandstones have their great development in the southeast and are either wanting in the Mississippi River section, or are represented by more or less discontinuous, thin beds. The Waltersburg sandstone has its great development in Pope and Johnson counties and thins out both to the east and the west. The Palestine and Degonia sandstones are about equally developed across the entire Chester area in the state.

Correlation of the Upper Paleozoic rocks of the Hueco Mountain region of Texas: J. W. BEEDE.1 Three great groups of rocks, the Mississippian, Pennsylvanian and Permian, each separated from the beds beneath them by unconformity, are represented in the Hueco region of Hudspeth county, Texas. The Mississippian is composed of some 500 feet of limestones and shales, and is referred to the Chester Group by Weller. Eleven hundred feet of Magdalena beds composed of limestones and marls represent the Des Moines Group of the Pennsylvanian system. The Manzano Group corresponds to the Wichita beds of central Texas and the Neva limestone to Summer Series of Kansas. The Abo sandstone of New Mexico appears to be wanting at localities studied; but belongs to Upper Pennsylvanian system. These beds are followed by strong unconformity carrying 100 feet of for eign conglomerate which cuts diagonally across the upper beds and the Diablo plateau to the northern Salt Flat. It is followed by part of the Leonard formation and farther south the Word formation comes in. This unconformity appears to be the one at the base of the Leonard formation in the Glass Mountains which extends from Salt Flat southwest to the Hueco and southeast to the Glass Mountains. From there northeastward to eastern Coke county and Red River, and probably into Kansas. It is the surface on which the Double Mountain beds were deposited.

The Devonian rocks of southwestern Illinois: T. E. SAVAGE. The Devonian rocks in the lower Mississippian embayment have an aggregate thickness of nearly 1,000 feet. Of these, a thickness of more than 800 feet occur in southwest Illinois. In this state these rocks do not extend as far north as St. Louis, and their outcrops are restricted to

1 Published by permission of the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and Technology, University of Texas.

THE AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION THE first annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union was held in the forenoon of April 23, 1920, at the offices of the National Research Council in Washington. At this meeting the permanent organization of this body was completed, amendments to its statutes were adopted, by-laws were enacted, officers of the Union were elected and the elections of officers of the sections conducted by mail ballot were ratified.

Reports were submitted by the American officers of the sections of the International Geodetic and Geophysical Union describing the progress made in the organization of these international sections. A report was submitted from the acting executive committee covering the work of preparation for the annual meeting.

A brief exposition was given of the status and functions of the American Geophysical Union, on the one hand, in relation to the parent bodies, the International Research Council, the National Research Council and the International Geodetic and

Geophysical Union, and on the other, in relation to the branches of science embraced under the term "geophysics" and specifically included in the sections of the union.

For each of the sections addresses were made by the chairman, setting forth in outline various problems of interest to the sections. These addresses constituted brief surveys of the research needs of the various branches of geophysics. They will be prepared for publication and issued at a later date.

Officers were elected to serve from July 1, 1920, as follows: American Geophysical Union: Chairman, Wm. Bowie for two years; Vice-chairman, L. A. Bauer, for two years; Secretary, H. O. Wood, for three years; Section (a), Geodesy; Chairman, Wm. Bowie, for two years; Vice-chairman, J. F. Hayford, for two years; Secretary, H O. Wood, for three years; Section (b), Seismology; Chairman, H. F. Reid, for two years; Vice-chairman, J. C. Branner, for two years; Secretary, H. O. Wood, for three years; Section (c), Meteorology, Chairman, C. F. Marvin, for two years; Vicechairman, W. J. Humphreys, for two years; Secretary, A. J. Henry, for three years; Section (d), Terrestrial Magnetism and Electricity, Chairman, L. A. Bauer, for two years; Vice-chairman, W. F. G. Swann, for two years; Secretary, J. A. Fleming, for three years; Section (e), Physical Oceanography; Chairman, G. W. Littlehales, for two years; Vice-chairman, tie vote, no election; Secretary, J. T. Watkins, for three years; Section (f) Volcanology; Chairman, H. W. Washington, for two years; Vice-chairman, R. A. Daly, for two years; Secretary, H. O. Wood, for three years. HARRY O. WOOD,

Secretary

THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF

SCIENCES

THE program of the scientific sessions of the annual meeting, held in Washington on April 26 and 27, was as follows:

MONDAY, APRIL 26 Morning Session

Conservation of natural resources as a proper function of the National Academy: JOHN M. CLARKE.

On the rate of growth of the population of the United States since 1790 and its mathematical expression: RAYMOND PEARL.

Growth and development as determined by environmental influences: FRANZ BOAS.

Plural births in man: CHARLES B. DAVENPORT. Dynamical aspects of injury, recovery and death: W. J. V. OSTERHOUT.

The importance of the presence of both sympathetic superior cervical ganglia to the maintenance of life; and their possible relations to respiratory diseases: SAMUEL J. MELTZER.

The National Research Council: JAMES R. ANGELL.

A psychological study of the medical officers in the Army: ROBERT M. YERKES.

Afternoon Session

Spectroscopic phenomena of very long vacuum tubes: ROBERT W. WOOD.

The measurement of small time intervals and some applications, principally ballistic (introduced by Arthur G. Webster): L. T. E. THOMPSON, C. N. HICKMAN AND N. RIFFOLT.

The effect of molecular structure upon the reflection of molecules from the surface of liquids and solids: ROBERT A. MILLIKAN.

The Springfield rifle and the Leduc formula: ARTHUR G. WEBSTER.

On the internal ballistics of the Springfield rifle: ARTHUR G. WEBSTER.

The 100-inch Hooker telescope of the Mt. Wilson Observatory: GEORGE E. HALE.

The vertical interferometer: Preliminary tests in an attempt to measure the diameter of the stars; A modification of the Foucault method adapted to long-distance measurement of the velocity of light: A. A. MICHELSON.

Preliminary measurements on the pressures in the "Onde de Choc'': ARTHUR G. WEBSTER.

On the specific heat of powder gases: ARTHUR G. WEBSTER.

Thermal conductivity of metals: EDWIN H. HALL.

Evening Session

The scale of the universe: HARLOW SHAPLEY, Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, and HEBER D. CURTIS, Lick Observatory (open to the public). U. S. National Museum (main auditorium). (William Ellery Hale Lectures.)

TUESDAY, APRIL 27

Morning Session

Distribution and villages of the Indian tribes of the Klamath River region, California: C. HART MERRIAM.

Significance of correlation in function between the dentition and skeleton of the Sabre-tooth tiger: JOHN C. MERRIAM.

On the colonial nervous system of Renilla: GEORGE H. PARKER.

The genus Botrychium and its relationships: DOUGLAS H. CAMPBELL.

The influence of cold in stimulating the growth of plants: FREDERICK V. COVILLE,

Some common foods as sources of vitamines: THOMAS B. OSBORNE AND LAFAYETTE B. MENDEL. The physico-chemical properties of hæmoglobin: LAWRENCE J. HENDERSON.

The direct combination of nitrogen and chlorine: WILLIAM A. NOYES.

Valance and chemical affinity: GILBERT N. LEWIS.

Afternoon Session

Shock of water ram in pipe lines with imperfect reflection at the discharge end and including the effect of friction and non-uniform change of valve opening: WILLIAM F. DURAND.

Recent notable progress in the theory of numbers: LEONARD E. DICKSON.

Geodesics and relativity: EDWARD KASNER. The use of alternating currents for submarine cable transmission (introduced by G. O. Squier): F. E. PERNOT.

Improvements in telegraphy: George O. SquIER. The air resistance of spheres: LYMAN J. BRIGGS. The possibilities of the rocket in weather forecasting: ROBERT H. GODDARD.

The distribution of land and water on the earth: H. FIELDING REID.

The alterations of limestones in contact-metamorphism: WALDEMAR LINDGREN.

Structure of Marrella and allied middle Cambrian crustaceans: CHARLES D. WALCOTT.

On a single numerical index of the age distribu tion of a population (by title): RAYMOND PEARL. Biographical memoir of George Jarvis Brush (by title): EDWARD S. DANA.

LOCAL ANESTHETICS1

SINCE earliest times, those who have resorted to surgery for the relief of their fellow creatures, have desired to mitigate their procedures by the exclusion of pain. Generally speaking, this has been brought about by a complete abolition of consciousness, whence the term anesthesia ("without sensation").

To those cases in which sensation is removed by the application of a drug only at the point of operation is applied the term local anesthesia; substances used for this purpose are termed local anesthetics. Some authorities consider this designation inaccurate because during the employment of these substances consciousness is fully retained. They might therefore be described as local analgesics ("without pain ") but the other term has the sanction of usage.

Historians cite abundant instances of the employment in ancient times of general anesthesia, the oldest being a case of removal of a rib. For this purpose we are told that "the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam," the patient. The commonest of the age-old general anesthetics are alcohol opiates and mandragora, all of which were given separately or mingled with other ingredients.

Local anesthesia, on the other hand, was attempted with comparative infrequency before the last century. Perhaps the earliest authentic description of an approach to this method is that which emanates from the school of Salerno,2 in the twelfth century. In those days was practised a form of general anesthesia by causing the patient to inhale the vapors of so-called "soporific sponges," the chief ingredients of these being poppy, hen1 Lecture given before the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, February 7, 1920.

2 Cited by Husemann, Deutsch. Zeitschr. f. Chirurgie, 1896, 42, 585.